It’s budget-cutting time in Minnesota’s school districts. It’s a time when authorities evaluate the extracurricular and other offerings of schools and decide what no longer interests kids.

It’s usually accompanied by this question. “Where are the kids?” high school music teacher Kevin Kosiak asked this week when the Perham-Dent School Board met.

Two offerings in particular no longer seem to be of much interest in Perham: Tennis and orchestra.

Kosiak said he used to have 160 kids in two different classes and now he has 43 in just one class, the East Otter Tail Focus reports today.

Even more troubling: Enrollment for his guitar and rock band classes is in the single digits.

Nation, we’re looking at a generation of kids here that don’t want to play guitar and be in a rock band.

“We’re struggling to keep the arts together,” Kosiak said. “We have to figure out a way to get a kid a college education and give them everything else that’s good for them.”

Like rock bands.

Another parent at a meeting this week said “parents are the problem,” the newspaper reported.

Other activities and modern-day distractions, like video games and snowmobiles, said the mom, have gotten in the way of non-core curricular interests. Too many parents are letting their kids quit arts classes and activities, or are not encouraging them to join in the first place, she said.

Video games? Like “Guitar Hero?”

Let’s keep an eye on this over the next month. Please monitor your local school board and report back what’s being cut in the way of the arts.

About the blogger

Bob Collins has been with Minnesota Public Radio since 1992, emigrating to Minnesota from Massachusetts where he was VP of programming for Berkshire Broadcasting Co. He was an editor at the RKO Radio Network in New York, and WHDH Radio in Boston. He is the founder of the MPR News’ website. He is a private pilot and flies an airplane he built.

With so many people plugged in to headphones, I think interest in music continues. It just seems to be more geared toward consumption. Electronic devices insulate listeners from the act of creating music. Downloading songs and creating a playlists have displaced guitar lessons.